In New York, police have increased direct patrols around sensitive facilities, particularly in Jewish communities.

Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Police Commissioner Howard Safir said the extra patrols were meant as a measure of "excess caution" out of concern for "acts of imitation" of the shooting at the Los Angeles area North Valley Jewish
Community Center.

In that shooting, suspected gunman Buford Furrow, a self-described white supremacist, fired at least 70 rounds in the lobby of the community center, injuring five people, including three young children.

Giuliani and Safir stressed there is no evidence of any New York connections to the Aryan Nations or any such white supremacist groups associated with Furrow.

But the mayor described white supremacy as an ideology that hates Jews, blacks and immigrants that could potentially put those communities, all plentiful in New York, at risk. The New York metropolitan area is home to the largest Jewish population in the United States.

"Anything that happens in any part of the country can happen in New York," Giuliani said.

The mayor heard the concerns of leaders of several Jewish groups during a city hall meeting. He and Safir said the city would take special precautions, including more police patrols, during the Jewish New Year holidays next month.